Control mechanism for doors



E, B. SMITH CONTROL MEcHANI'sM Fon DooRs Feb. 5 1924.

Fild Dec- 11. 1922 2 Shees-Sheet 1 INIVENTOR Ezra/3, 5m z'ZL.

BY WM ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 5, 1924.

UNITED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA. IB. SMITH,` 0F RAVENSWOOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN EDWARD OGDEN, OF

' MOUNTAINVILLE, NEW YORK.

CONTROL MECHANISIVI FOR DOORS.

Application led December 11, 192.2. Serial No. 606,276.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EznA B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a. resident of Ravenswood, countyof. Cook, Chicago, and

State offlllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Control Mechanism for Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to control mechanism for doors and particularly to mechanism for controlling elevator hatchway doors. Y

One kof the objects of the invention is to provide hatchway or fire door control mechanism so constructed and arranged that the doors can not be opened unless the elevator car is opposite the landing where the doors are located and furthermore the opened doors will be automatically closed when the car leaves the landing.

Another object of the inventionis to provide latching mechanism for holding the doors open and located as to be normally disposed outof the path of moving parts of the elevator car but adapted to be moved into the path thereof when the doors are opened.

Another object of the invention is to provide hatchway door latching mechanism for holding the doors open and latch releasing means carried by the elevator car, the latching mechanism being disposed out of the path of thelatch releasing mechanism unless the doors are latched open.

Another object of the inventionis to provide means in connection with elevator hatchway doors for insuring the quiet operation thereof. f

Another object of the invention is to provide means operable by the .movement of the elevator car in either direction away from a landing for releasing opened hatchway doors.

`Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings which form a part of this application and in which,

'Fig..1 is a sectional elevation of an elevator hatchway showing applurality of landings and sets of hatchway or fire doors.

Fig. v2 `is a sectional elevation of one side of the hatchway shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 -is. an enlarged elevational view 'showing the latching mechanism for holding the hatchway doors in open position.

ymechanism for latching lthe hatchway or fire doors open and means operable upon movement of the elevator car away from the landing for releasing said latching mechanism. The latching mechanism is normally disposed out of the path of the releasing means and is movable into operative position as the doors move to open position. In

,the particular form of the invention shown thel means for moving-the latching mechanism to operative position consists of yieldable means',` carried by the door or as illus- -trated by. the lower section of the door.

Means has also been provided for cushioning the closing movement of the doors thereby insuring the quiet operation thereof.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a portion of an elevator hatchway y10 having a plurality of sets of doors A vand B located at different floor levels 12'and 13.

In` the particular form ofthe invention shown an upper section 14 and a lower section 15 is kprovided for each set of doors, these sections being movabletoward each other to closed positionas sliownat A and being movable away from each other to open position as shown at B. A latch 16 is carried by one oftheisections, 14, and the other section 15 has a latch engaging member 17.

As the doors are moved to closed position as shown at A the latch 16 is automatically swunginto latching position.

KL.The hatchway doors may vbe counterbalanced in any suitable manner and onesatisfactoryfarrangement consists in making the upper section 14 heavier than the lower section 15 so that when the sections are released after having been latched in open position theyfwill automatically close. The

f two doors of each set are Vconnected by a cable i8 secured to the lower edge oi" the upper section as shown at 19 and to a bracket secured to the upperedge of the lower section as shown at 20. The intermediate portion of the cable 18 passes over a sheave 2l mounted in the hatchway on a fixed support.

lt is cesirable that only one pair of doors or door sections be opened at one time and in Fig. l the sections B are rshown as open and the sections A as closed. lt will be obvious that the upper section B will preventthe lower section A; from opening and the lower section B will prevent the lupper section ot the doors located below the landing 13 from opening.

`When hatchway doorsl of the type described are located in hotels. oih'ce buildings, etc., it is veryv desirable to insurey the kquiet operation. This is accomplished in the present invention by means ot an aircheck device shown in Fig. 7 and consisting of a cylinder 30 secured by a bracket 3l to the door guides in the hatehway adjacent each set ot door sections (see also Figli) and a piston 39. having a pisto'n'rod 33 extending through one end ot the cylinder and provided at its lower end with an abutment member orfstriking disc 34. The disc 34 is adapted to be engaged by the bracket 20 carried at the upper end of the lower door section as the sections approacheach other or as the lower section is raised.

The piston as shown .in Fig. 7 has'constricted openings 35 therethrough and above the piston there is slidablyvmountedupon an extension 36 of the piston rod a vfloating washer the upward movement of this washer on the extension 3.6 being limited by a fixed orfriveted washer. 38. yThe opposite end ot the cylinder 30 has formed therein constricted openings or leakage openings 39. y The air check operates as follows. Then the doors are opened the piston will drop in the cylinder.y the air within the cylinder escaping through theI openings 39. lVhen the doorsl arey closed the bracket 20 onthe lower door section will engage .the abutment or striking head 34 on the piston rod 33 and will force the piston head 32 `upwardly in the cylinder 30. During this operation the washer 37 will close the openings S5 in the piston head and thepiston head will therefore compress the air in the cylinder positioned above the head suliciently to check the upward lmovement of the lower section. glitter-'the door has been rcompletely closed and, there is no further pressure against the piston rod the compressed vair between the piston head and the cylinder head will escape graduallythrough a screw valve 4Ofmountedv in the upper end ofthe cylinder.; Thisvalve' has .anin'clined y"opening 4l Athereiiri and the screw may' be" adjusted toy're'gulate:fthelescape 'of' the air.

ln this way various "sizes yo'tdoo'rs'- 'may be handled by the air check device without changing the dimensions oit the parts.

The mechanism for locking the door sections in open position will next be described. In the i'orm ot the inventionillustrated, this mechanism acts in conjunction with the descending or lower sect-ion of the door although if desired it could be adapted to coact with the upper section.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3 the locking mechanism is carried by a disc 50 eccentrically pivoted at 5l to a iixedpivot located in the hatchway `at one side of the path of travel of the elevator and the hatchway doors. rl`he arm 52 is iiXedly secured to the disc 5l and extends upwardly therefrom and this yarm carries at its upper end a pivoted latching pawl 53. The pawl 53 is actuated on its pivot in a clockwise direction by'spring 54 and is limited in this movement by a stop 55 formed on the pawl and engageable with the arm 52.

As clearly illustrated in Fig. l adjacent the floor 'level 12 the mechanism :for latching the doors open is normally disposed at` an angle to thel vertical and in such a positionthat the unlatching mechanism or releasing mechanism rcarried by the elevator car and hereinafter described, will'not engage the latching` mechanism unless the door sections controlled thereby are latched in open position.

l/Vhen, however, the car stops at a landing or floor level and the doors arel open, the latching mechanism will be swung to the position shown at the bottom of Fig. l or to operative position in the following manner. Each lower section. or" the hatchway doors has secured to one edge a resilient strip 56 engageable with a stud or roller 57 mounted on lthe disc 50 as the lower sectionA approaches its open position. The engagement ott the strip 56 with the roller or stud 57 will swing'the `disc 50 about its pivot in an anticlockwise direction thereby swinging the arm 52 to substantially vertical position in which the spring pressed pawl 53 will be engaged by and will subsequently snap back over a bracket 58 secured to the lateraledgeof the lower or descending door section. A stop lug 59is located in the hatchway to forni a limit `forthe downward movement of the. section l5 this lug" being disposed in the. path'y of the bracket, 58.

In order kto insure the correct positioning of lthe latching mechanism,y a headed pin or stud 60 is iedly secured in the hatchway and is positioned in an arcuate slot or notch 61 formed in the vdisc 50.' This .stud or pin positivelyA limits 'the movementof the disc in bothl directions land the head on 'the stud 'tends'to retain the disc in 'position and to confine the disc to its movement of oscillation theatrale pivot 51'.'

Means is provided for insuring the release of the hatchway doors when the elevator car leaves the floor level thereby insuring the closing of these doors. This means comprises a pair of tripping rollers or studs 62 carried by the elevator platform and adapted'to engage a stud 63 extending laterally from the pivot of the latch 53. Nhen the car ascends from the floor level the lower stud or' roller 62 will engage the stud 63 carried by the latch and when the car de- (lll " mechanism in case of fire.

cends the upper roller will perform this function. It will be evident therefore that the latch will be swung away from engagement with the bracket 58 when the car ascends or descends from the floor level. Upon the release of the door sections in case the upper section is heavier than the lower section the door will be closed by gravity and the latch 16 will latch the door in closed position.

The hatchway doors are opened and closed in the following manner. When the elevator operator reaches a floorlevel and desires to open the doors he releases the latch 1G and manually forces the door sections apart. When thevlower section approaches its wide open position he may if desired place his foot upon the upper edge thereof thereby forcing this section to wide open position. During this operation the resilient strip 56 will swing the latching mechanism to operative position about this pivot 51 4and the latch 53 will snap over the bracket 58 carried by the doorv section. When. the operator applies power to the car and the car moves away from the floor level in either direction the latching mechanism will be swung to in-operative positionby one of the rollers or studs 62 whereupon the doors will again move to closed position.

In connection with the invention `inst' described there has been' shown means for automatically unlatching the door latching This mechanism has not been illustrated in detail nor will it bc described in detail since it forms the subject matter of another application. This automatic releasing mechanism comprises a weight T0 carried by a chain 71 the opposite end of which is connected to one end of a fusible link 72. The other end of the link T2 is connected by a chain 73 to a fir-:ed support 74. Also a chain connects the two ends of the link 72 and is normally slack as shown in Fig. l. The downward movement of the weight 70 is limited by a stud 'T6 fiiledly secured in the hatchway and disposed in an elongated slot 77 formed in the weight. The release of the latch by the weight is accomplished through a lug 'Z8 carried by the weight adjacent the upper end thereof and projecting laterally therefrom. The lug 78 is so located with referkence to an arm 7 9 secured to'thedisc 50 that the downward movement of the weight 70 after its release will cause the lug 78 to engage the arm 79 and thereby swing the disc 50 about its pivot 5l moving the latch 53 out of engagement with the bracket 58 carried by the lower door section. It will thus be seen that when a fire causes a dangerous rise in temperature in the hatchway the fusible link will be melted thereby releasing the weight and permitting the weight to release the latching mechanism. The doors will thereafter be automatically closed.

rFrom the foregoing specification it will be seen that a simple practical and effective means has been provided for latching hatchway doors in open position and that this latching mechanism will be automatically released by the movement of the elevator car away from the floor level. Furthermore by means of the air check device the closing movement of the door sections will be cushioned thereby insuring the quiet operation thereof.

Although one specific embodiment of the invention has been particularly shown and described, it wil be understood that the invention isl capable of modification and that changes in the construction and in the arrangement of the various cooperating parts may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. ln combination7 an elevator car a movable hatchway door biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism disposed out of the path of movement of the elevator car for latching said door in open position andv means for moving said latching mechanism to operative; position.

2. In combination7 a movable hatchway door biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said door in open position and means on the door for moving 1 said latching mechanism to operative position. .f

3. ln combination, a movable hatchway door biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said door-in open 1.

position and means on the door engageable with said latching means during the door opening movement for moving said latching mechanism to operative position.

4. In combination, a movable hatchway doorbiased to close., normally inoperative mechanismfor latching; said door in open position and yieldable means normally out of engagement with the latching mechanism for moving said latching mechanism to op- T erative position. Y

, 5. In combination, a movable hatchway door biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said door in open position and resilient means normally out of engagement with the latching mechanism for moving said latching mechanism to operative position. i

6. In combination, a movable hatchway door biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said door in open position and yieldable means on the door lor moving said latching mechanismto operative position.

7. In combination, a movable hatchway door biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said door in open position and resilient means engageable with said latching means during the door opening movement for moving said latching mechanism to operative position.

8. ln combination a movable hatchway door biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching `said door in open position, mea-ns for moving' said latching mechanism to operative position, an elevator car, and, means carried by the car Jfor releasing said latching means from the door.

9. In combination, a movable hatchway door biasedto close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said door Ain open position, mea-ns t'or moving said latching mechanism to operative position, an eleva.- tor car, and means carried by the car and operable as the car leaves the landing for releasing` said latching means 'from the door.

l0. Inv combination, a movable hatchway door, an elevator car, normallyinoperable door latching mechanism normally disposed out of the path of movement of the elevator car, yieldable means for moving` said mechanism to operative position and means carried by the car for releasing said latching mechanism from the door.

1l. ln combination, a movable hatchway door, an elevator car, normally inoperable door latching mechanism, yieldable means carried by the door for moving ,said mechanisin to operative position and means carried by the car for releasing said latching mechanism from the door.

l2. lin combination, a movable hatchway door, an elevator car, normally inoperable door latching` mechanism, yieldable means for moving' said mechanism to operative position and means carried by the car and operable as the car leaves the landing for releasing said latching mechanism from the door.

13. In combination1 a plurality of movable hatchway door sections adapted to move toward each other to closed position and means including a cylinder and a weighted piston movable by gravity to operative position for cushioning the closing movement of `the doors as they approach each other.

lll. In combination, a plurality of mov- Vanism for latch ing able hatchw'ay door sectionsy adapted to move toward each other to closed position and means including a pneumatic cylinder and a piston therein mounted in the hatchway and engageableby one of the doors for cushioning. thel closing movement ot said doors as they approach each other, the piston being weighted to return to operative position after-the `operation thereof.

l5. In combination, a plurality of movable hatchway door sections adapted to move toward each lother to closed `position and means rincluding a pneumatic device mounted -on a fixed support and engageable by one of the doors for cushioning the closinff movement of said doors as they approach each other, said pneumatic device including a piston so weighted as to return by 'gravity to operative position after the cushioning movement thereof.`

16. In combination, an elevator car, a plurality of movable hatchway door sections biased to close, normally linoperative mechanism disposed Ktout oty the path of movement of the elevator car for latching said doors in open position and means for moving said latching mechanism to operative position;

17. In combination, a plurality of movable hatchway door sections biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching` said sections in open position and means carried by one of the sections for moving said mechanism to operative'position.

18.111" combination, vertically movable hatchway door sections biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said sections in open position and yie-ldable means carried by one of the sections for moving said mechanism to operative position. 1 l

19. ln combination, vertically movable upper and lower hatchway door sections biased to close, normally inoperative mechsaid sections in open position and mea-ns carried'by one of the sections for moving said mechanism to operative position.

20L In combination, vertically movable upper and lower hatchway door sections biased to close, normally inoperative mechanism for latching said sections in open position and means carried by the lower section for moving 'said mechanism to operative' position. A

2l. In combination, vertically movable upper and lower hatchway doorsections biased to close, operative connections between said section,` normally vinoperative mechanismengaige'able with the lower section, forr latching said sections in open position and means carried by one of the sections or moving isaid mechanism to opera-- tive position...

22; yInv con'ibiiaation, a vvertically movable door, la-tching mechanism for said door, said mechanism including an eccentrically pivoted member having its center of gravity so located as to swing the latch to inoperative position and means engageable with said member to swing the latch to operative position as the door is` opened.

23. In combination, a vertically movable door, latching mechanism for said door, said mechanism including an eccentrica-lly pivoted member having its. center of gravity so located as to swing the latch to inoperative position and means on the door engageable With said member to swing the 'L latch to operative position as the door is opened.

24. In combination, a vertically movable -door, latching mechanism for said door, said mechanism including an eccentrically pivoted member having its center of gravity so located as to swing the latch to inoperative position and yieldable means engage- -able With said member to swing the latch door, an elevator car, normally inoperable door latching mechanism disposed out of the path of movement of the car, and means on the hatchWay door for moving said latching mechanism to operative position.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of December, 1922.

EZRA. B. SMITH.

Witness I. B. MOORE. 

